Titanic: a tragedy with lessons for today

Titanic is a heart-wrenching love story of two people meeting in unforeseen circumstances; an unhappy, rich bride-to-be, rebellious enough to question society and its morals, and the adventurous traveller boy who boarded the Titanic by sheer fortune. Luck brought them together, and luck tears them apart. This fairy-tale beginning was, one might say, missing its ending.

We begin with our beautiful Rose DeWitt (Kate Winslet), dressed in the finest and trained from birth in all things lady-like, elegantly stepping out of her car and surveying the grand Titanic in front of her. Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) is portrayed as the ‘wild boy’ – running and jumping in glee when he wins the tickets to America. They’re not, we think, made for each other.

Rose is intelligent and wise for her years and we love her. Contrary to what her opening line may suggest, she isn't your typical rich girl. Her life, though littered with jewels, has been stabbed with misery. Society insists that she be forever under the guidance of a husband - and, because of the wealthy heritage, her fiancé is, of course, somewhat stuck-up. He cares only for himself (with the small exception of Rose's fortune) and lacks any empathy whatsoever for those in worse situations than he. However, at times we feel slightly sorry for him: this naive, stubborn little boy, who lives entirely in his own world and has no understanding of true love.

Our darling damsel-in-distress, who, we have discovered, has a lot more behind her pretty face than we had first realised, is distraught, in despair of her life. She climbs over the railing on the edge of the boat. Rose intends to die on the greatest boat ever built. She is clinging onto the outside of the rails, about to let herself fall to her tragic death, when Jack comes running up to save the day. She pours out her heart to him, and he charms her into believing in herself. This is the beginning of Rose and Jack.

Throughout the film Jack does his best to win over Rose, and he doesn't fail. But she is rich and he is poor. Unspoken laws forbid the two from ever being together. In addition, Rose's mother has her own plea for her daughter to do the 'right thing' by her family. Marrying Jack, or, more importantly, not marrying her fiancé, would put an end to the mother's hopes of stable finances.And yet Rose cannot. She has let herself fall in love, and there is no way out. She makes her decision. She chooses to marry the humble Jack as soon as they get off the boat, and to ride off into the sunset with him.

The unfortunate flaw in that plan, as we can all see, is that they never get off the boat together. Or they do, but they don't survive. As soon as the boat, and their lives, hits the jagged iceberg, a whirlwind of ups and downs and excitement and disappointment begins. Jack is locked in a basement, and he will surely drown - but no, he is saved, and now we know they will live, but they cannot find a way out, and then yes! - they are up on the deck, ready to jump into the safety of a lifeboat - but alas! There are none left. They must get off, they must live, they have to, because it is destiny. That is what happens in these stories. Everyone knows that.

The boat is going under, and Rose and Jack, the two star-crossed lovers, are going with it. They cling in desperation to the head of the boats as they sink, and they are going down, down, getting faster... And they hit the water, holding hands and vowing never to let go. But they do, of course. Then there is screaming all around them and they have to find each other, they have to.

They do. This is it, we think. We are waiting for the miracle. For the lifeboats to come back. For a rescue boat. For a beam from heaven - anything. You have to be saved! we want to scream, because that is the rules. That is how all love stories end. They always struggle, but they find a way to be together and nothing can separate them. Not even the sinking of the biggest boat of that time.

When a lifeboat finally comes back, gliding through the black waters of the dead, we think they are saved. This is it! Rose is shaking Jack, crying for him to wake up, but he won't. He is dead, and Rose is left all alone in the world. It feels rather like we are, too.This heart-breaking film captures the unfairness of love perfectly. We hate the fact Rose is forced to marry such an awful person - though she doesn't, in the end, due to what one might call unforeseen circumstances. But then, isn't life full of those? Every circumstance is, in a way, unforeseen and they all affect every decision we make. This is what Titanic is all about. Disasters happen in everyone's life, usually in the form of death, and they all leave us waiting where we were before.​Hovering alongside the plot of love, there is an indignation we all feel - a simmering anger at those who are trying to control Rose. Because how could this man think he has any control over her when she is a person as much as he is? She has a right to her own independence. And why can't she be with Jack? Yes, he is poor, but he is also funny and moral and when they are together it is exhilarating.We can see this because we are in the twenty-first century. Over one hundred years have passed since the sinking of the Titanic. The film teaches of the injustice which oppressed so many in that time - even those who supposedly had it all, like Rose. Titanic teaches us not to expect everything in life, for nobody has it all.